Beyond Liberty Is the future of liberalism progressive? Edited by Julia Margo First published in Great Britain 2007 by ippr, 30–32 Southampton Street London WC2E 7RA www.ippr.org 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Copyright © ippr 2007 Cover image Arrow (Libertat) by Antoni Tapies © Fondation Antoni Tapies, Barcelone/VEGAP, Madrid and DACS, London 2007. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. ISBN 1 86030 3080 ISBN 9 78186030 3081 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CGI Europe Ltd This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publishers’ prior consent in writing in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser. Contents Acknowledgements vii About the contributors viii Introduction: Beyond liberty? 1 Julia Margo Section 1: Liberalism in the historical context 1 More than freedom: the ideology of liberalism 27 Professor Michael Freeden 2 The progressive consensus in perspective 38 Professor Iain MacLean and Guy Lodge 3 Liberalism’s progressive past: post-war 53 Liberalism and the property question Stuart White Section 2: Liberalism and modern Britain 4 In tune with the people? Analysing attitudes 71 Professor Peter Taylor-Gooby 5 State of the nation 2007: audit 83 Julia Margo and Sonia Sodha 6 From ideology to politics: Liberal values and policies 118 Professor Richard S Grayson Section 3: A progressive liberal politics? 7 Free to be fair or fair to be free? Liberalism and social justice 133 Steve Webb MP vi Beyond Liberty 8 Size isn’t everything: debating the state 144 David Laws MP 9 Justice and liberty: a third way? 156 Nick Clegg MP 10 Power to the people: choice at what cost? 170 Vince Cable MP 11 More than PR: towards an active, deliberative, 187 liberal democracy Lord Wallace 12 Towards cultural pluralism: identity, multiculturalism 198 and citizenship Lord Dholakia 13 A greener shade of yellow 209 Chris Huhne MP 14 After Iraq: the prospect for a progressive 220 Liberal foreign policy Michael Moore MP with Kate Samuel Section 4: Beyond liberty – the new progressive Liberalism? Conclusion 235 Julia Margo with Sonia Sodha and Rob Vance Introduction: Beyond liberty? Julia Margo ‘We should not try to shore up a traditional liberalism based on the priority of private responsibility against the winds of empirically-based change in our understanding of human minds. This nostalgic strategy does not provide much guidance to hopes for a liberal future, as the cognitive sciences continue to advance. A progressive social liberalism should serve the public good within the public ecology of responsibility in ways that counter manipulation and support the rationality and responsibility of citizens. Such an ecological conception of liberalism is not a way of abandoning liberalism, but a way of revitalizing and strengthening it for the future.’ Hurley (2007) This book is a challenge to modern liberals. Drawing on the latest and best research from across the social sciences, it argues that liberals need to update their thinking in response to the way the world is changing. In it, the contributors engage with emerging currents in social, political and legal thought on both sides of the Atlantic, which have provided fresh analysis of the relationships between individuals, their communities, and social change – ideas that are fast becoming the new common sense of the age. Both liberal thinkers and practising Liberal politicians (writing in their own right rather than representing their party) have written in response to ippr’s research and ideas, alongside key progressive thinkers. All ideologies evolve in response to societal shifts. Thatcherism rode the tide of history as it swept away the post-war Keynesian consensus. The economy was deregulated, nationalised industries were privatised and while traditional community horizons waned new social divisions and inequalities opened up. So, too, was New Labour a product of its time. It borrowed much from the economic liberalism of Thatcherism but married this with a 2 Beyond Liberty renewed commitment to social justice and strong public services. People could see inequality and poverty spiralling out of control and public services becoming dilapidated. A new British progressive project emerged from the ashes of repeated electoral defeat and a process of reflection and renewal. And New Labour got the softer side right: rejecting Thatcher’s mantra of ‘there is no such thing as society’, the narrative was one of Britons being ‘in it together’. Things could only get better. After its heyday in the 19th and early 20th centuries, political Liberalism became largely irrelevant, arguably because Labour captured the working class vote and marshalled progressive forces behind it (although strands of liberal thinking informed Labour intellectuals at different points in the century). As the post-war Keynesian settlement unravelled, and Labour’s core class base shrunk, new political horizons opened up, which the Social Democratic party/Alliance at first tried to fill. But Labour reinvented itself, building a new post-Thatcher coalition for progressive change, and once again it squeezed Liberalism out of the mainstream contention for power. The Liberal Democrats prospered in the 1990s and early 21st century, but many would argue that this was largely the result of the electoral weakness and rightward drift of the Conservative party. They were also fortunate to have a strong historical base in Scotland, which allowed them to participate in power-sharing in the devolved Scottish Parliament. They used their localist traditions to good effect in English local government too, building local platforms for national representa- tion in clusters around the country. Although there have been major political attempts to redefine Liberalism, none of these succeeded in offering a holistic and compelling alternative to the progressive or conservative narrative of the day. Lloyd George’s Yellow Book, of 1928 (officially known as the Liberal Industrial Inquiry Committee) was an attempt to develop big government solutions to the economic and social issues of the day, arguing for greater state intervention in more indirect ways (Liberal Industrial Inquiry Committee 1928). And arguably, liberal activist and theorist Bernard Greaves, with his series of short books on ‘community politics’ in the 1970s (Greaves 1976, Greaves and Lishman 1980) pushed Liberalism towards a localism that ensured that a – then – small national party retained some political purpose. But neither managed to carve out distinct political territory for Liberalism. Furthermore, although the publication of the recent Orange Book Introduction: Beyond liberty? 3 (Marshall and Laws 2004) by those on the right of the Liberal Democrat party represented to many the first large-scale attempt at a revival of liberal thought since the Yellow Book, it did not produce a major new direction for Liberalism. Rather than advocating a major rethink of this ideology (in light of major social and global change), it argued instead for a rehabilitation of traditional economic liberal thought. This is an understandable conclusion: the flexibility of today’s economy, the dawn of the ‘information age’ in which individual autonomy can reap dividends, is after all more welcoming to classical liberalism than the socio-economic climate of previous decades. Is there political space or need for a distinctive ideology based on ‘the fusion of economic and social liberalism’ suggested by Marshall and Laws (ibid)? Or should the future of political Liberalism – the Liberal Democrat party – be more recognisably progressive? We argue in this book that there is a dual impetus for a renewal of a progressive liberalism. Political considerations consolidate the case for renewal, based on emerging strands of research in the social sciences, which we present here. To contribute to the emerging 21st century politics and stand a chance of affecting social and political change, rather than defining themselves in opposition to modern progressives, the Liberal Democrats need to find a better defined place in the progressive project. Progressive politics today The scope of politics and governance is changing in Britain today and progressive thought in recent years has moved beyond accepting much liberal economic orthodoxy to asking new questions about the wider role of government and civic society. In recognition of this, ippr invited some leading members of the parliamentary Liberal Democrat party to reconsider their core values in response to these new currents of progressive thinking. Although many of our contributors are politicians, this book is not a party political exercise concerned with electoral power; rather it is about the power of ideas, particularly liberal ideas, and their relevance for achieving social justice and wider progressive ambitions. ippr has a long history of helping to refresh progressive political thought, which it does through the marshalling of rigorous evidence and the best academic research in the service of normative goals. It is 4 Beyond Liberty ambitious about the potential for social change but a practical realism about how people think and behave in the real world underpins its approach, analyses and prescriptions. This book’s challenge to modern Liberals is underpinned by this kind of approach; rather than a merely philosophical exercise,